Making Banana Pancakes

Hokay so... two nights ago was American Cook Night/Culture Night. We have been agonizing about this one because, frankly, what’s American Culture that doesn’t involve beef patties and what’s American Cuisine that doesn’t involve Mexico, Italy or beef patties? The answer? A HUGE pot of chili plus Ina Garten’s Banana Sour Cream Pancakes and a failed attempt to make apple pie, realizing there is ZERO power and instead making empanada/apple momo lumps that look more like reshaped vomit than palatable, delicious bundles oh sugary joy. American culture turned out to be “summer camp 101” with a pitied singalong with Puff the Magic Dragon (we didn’t explain the alternative interpretation of the lyrics.)

Earlier that day, we had schlepped up to Sarjanidid’s small village of Gamchhaa where we were supposed to practice our participatory research techniques including community mapping, pairwise preference ranking and seasonal calendars. Divided into two groups, I was paired with Atma (my roommate) and Ambika, another Nepali student. After arriving and awkwardly standing about in our kurtas (Nepali dress) while the villagers stared at us, finally Atma jumped in and rapidly blasted off some Nepali, laid out some paper and markers and began to draw. For the next two hours, I sat in the back feeling like inside jokes were being exchanged back and forth and I was the one who just didn’t get it. Even when I did have a problem with how things were being done, I couldn’t do much of anything without disrupting the whole process and forcing Atma or Ambika to translate.

Don’t worry, it’s not as depressing as it sounds. When the group all joined up again, even Mel the miraculous Nepali seto maanche (white person) speaker was wicked confused. After having such a fantastic experience in Machyagaau, I had been incredibly disappointed and anxious that perhaps this interview style was what I had to look forward to on our independent research trip. Simply decompressing over Phish, chopping vegetables and some Amurrican conversation with John, Mello (Joanne is still very sick and out of commission) and a well timed Jack Johnson appearance pretty much hit the spot. I realized briefly that I’ve been in Nepal for three weeks; the longest I’ve ever been abroad is one month and by this time I was already counting the days till I went home. But whether it’s college, getting older, more travel experience, or better banana pancakes (thank you Ina!) I’m pretty darn comfortable here. I know the students better, yoga is incredible, and the staff are even more incredible and possibly the nicest, craziest people ever (Shesh Daddy still helps me cheat on my Nepali homework.) Perhaps most importantly (in terms of wanting to stay) I have at least two or three “blow your mind” moments every couple days - our coursework and/or conversations continually defy or expand whatever I have learned about sustainable development and management at school or in the States. I’m both excited and afraid to go back to Columbia and reorient myself to an entirely different perspective.